ᐅ Building an End-Terrace House as a Self-Managed Project with a General Contractor

Created on: 27 May 2019 10:48
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goalkeeper
Hello everyone,

some of you might have already followed one of my threads about us having to or being allowed to build our end-terrace house on our own responsibility – depending on how you look at it. This means that we are buying an end-terrace plot (215 sqm (2315 sq ft)) in a new development area in the Rhein-Neckar district and will be building on it ourselves – but in coordination with our two terrace neighbors.

The municipality, which sold the plots through a local resident model, ideally wanted applicants to apply as a complete housing group with several families and then build accordingly with a general contractor, construction manager, or architect. Of course, that didn’t really work out, so now there are only individual applicants and also homeowners.

After we were awarded the plot, the addresses of the other terrace neighbors were shared to discuss certain matters, such as roof style, whether or not to have a basement, etc. It was immediately clear that everyone preferred to do their own thing. However, we were still able to agree that the housing group will have a gable roof with a pitch of 35 to 40 degrees (within this 5-degree range).

As the end house, we will build without a basement, while the middle house and the other end house will have basements. This obviously presents a challenge as we would have to make a deep foundation or simply skip it, and the middle house would have to support us, as we will start construction first. The current agreement with the middle house is that we will build a deeper foundation at his expense, as supporting our house later on would be considerably more expensive for him.

We are currently close to signing with the construction manager, the notarization appointment for the plot is at the end of June, and we hope to start construction in the fall of this year. Meanwhile, several other freely planned housing groups are being built around us, which might get in the way with their cranes.

I will document the progress here from time to time – such a self-planned terraced house doesn’t come along very often.
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goalkeeper
9 Apr 2020 17:19
This is how it looks at our place.

You could almost leave it just like this.

Construction facade with two windows, central metal door, loose cables, purple insulation boards


Window with black frame in gray stone wall; construction site reflection shows houses.


Small window with dark frame in gray wall; glass reflects houses; purple Beck-Heun
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kbt09
9 Apr 2020 17:22
I also don’t find that to be inappropriate in any way.
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Zaba12
9 Apr 2020 17:36
goalkeeper schrieb:

Sure – if you go for artificial stone, something like this would be the way to go.
We have these inside. I really like them.

Here’s the same alternative in a lighter shade from the neighbor.

I used to overthink every little detail too. Do whatever you want, but I think once the plaster is applied, you’ll like the window sills. This is how they look in our house!

Exterior view of a white house with three dark window frames; black railing in the foreground.


Exterior view of a gray metal window frame with a window sill in front of a roughly textured white wall
Climbee9 Apr 2020 19:51
Don't bother, it fits.
tomtom799 Apr 2020 19:53
The neighbor also has anthracite-colored windows and silver window sills with a white facade, which does not stand out negatively.

White house wall with dark-framed window, sloped roof and trees in the background.


We have Nero Impala granite and have not cleaned it yet this year, so we cannot confirm the issue with stains. This is probably because our construction area is completed.
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dab_dab
9 Apr 2020 19:56
They have the same combination: anthracite windows, external venetian blinds, and aluminum window sills in silver-gray.

It looks fine and does not incur any additional cost.